Writer: Brian Michael Bendis / Artists: Michel Fiffe, Gary Frank, Jenny Frison, Mitch Gerads, Mike Grell, James Harren, Tula Lotay, Emanuela Lupacchino, David Marquez, Kevin Nowlan, Joe Quinones, Ivan Reis, John Romita Jr., Riley Rossmo, Nicola Scott, Ryan Sook, and Gene Luen Yang/ DC Comics
Legion of Superheroes #9 is most impressive because of the logistical feat of its art.
Following the precedent set last issue, we get a twenty-two page comic with art from just as many artists on each page.
The narrative this issue surrounds the Legion of Superheroes as they navigate going to trial in front of the United Planets for their supposed crimes against the galaxy. Each legionnaire gets their own page as the spotlight, as we are taken back to a huge chunk of the team’s members when they first auditioned to join the group.
It’s an easy structure to follow. New page, new hero/artist. We obviously couldn’t go through every single member of the Legion of Superheroes. We’d need a hardcover omnibus for that. But we did get to see the beginning of quite a few heroes, ranging from super popular to very obscure.
It was fun to anticipate what style of art was going to pop up when I flipped to the next page. It was also a really interesting way to show the many interpretations of these characters from some of the heaviest hitters in comics today.
It was almost like we got twenty-two one-paged comics when it was all said and done. And this was reinforced by the cover, which features twelve mini covers in the style they would be made in if these were solo books.
All in all, we got art from Michel Fiffe, Gary Frank, Jenny Frison, Mitchell Gerads, Mike Grell, James Harren, Tula Lotay, Emanuela Lupacchino, David Marquez, Kevin Nowlan, Joe Quinones, Ivan Reis, John Romita Jr., Riley Rossmo, Nicola Scott, Ryan Sook, and Gene Luen Yang.
While it was a fun and often exciting way to read a comic, I do think the story suffered a bit from this approach. It quickly got formulaic and after a while, you wanted something else to happen.
8 Rotating Artists out of 10
Reading Legion of Superheroes? Find BNP’s other reviews here.
Want to get Black Nerd Problems updates sent directly to you? Sign up here!
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
Show Comments